One week after Emily Prentiss's attack
by storytime00
Summary: This story is about the deteriorating psyche of Emily Prentiss after she is brutally attacked by an unsub in her own home. This attack never occurred in the show. This is Emily-centric but the rest of the team is included.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** The story is based off an attack that never occurred in the show. I made it up. I hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think!

**One week after Emily Prentiss's Attack**

Emily's arm had fallen asleep hours ago even if she herself could not. She didn't dare move for fear that the moment her shifting dampened her hearing would be the moment the doorknob would twist under the slight hand of an intruder. 

Her bottom ached from the hardness of the wood floor beneath her and her back felt as though it would break in two. She looked at the blinking clock that was the only source of light in her bedroom. 4:56. She had been sitting in that corner with her comforter mounded around her for 6 hours. She looked back around to the window. If she looked hard enough, she could almost imagine that there was a little bit of sunlight over the horizon. 

She swallowed the dense saliva in her dry mouth. It was funny how you could sleep all night and not get thirsty but stay up and you'd feel like you hadn't drank anything in days. She looked back at the clock. 4:58. She was so exhausted by this. At 5 she would just get up. 

Emily tensed at a sudden brushing sound and gripped the gun that had gone limp in her hand. No, it was Sergio. She could see his dim silhouette in the doorway. He was scratching himself on the door frame with his delicate back arched high. Her heart pounded until she thought it would break but she lowered the gun. It was 5:00. She'd be at work by 5:30. It's not like Hotch could be upset with her for being too early. 

When Emily arrived at the office, the sun had yet to rise. The doors were open and the guards on night shift were on duty but the auto sensor lights were off. The morning shift guards were just coming in for their shift at 6. She waved her hand at the sensor as she shuffled in towards the elevator. When the elevator door closed her safely in alone, she pulled out her gun and held it toward the ceiling at her chest. She stood with her back to the buttons, watching, as the neon numbers counted up to her floor. The door dinged and slid open ominously. She pressed herself against the wall tighter and closed her eyes, releasing a steadying breath. 

Then, she swung around, her elbow keeping the door open, with her gun poised ahead of her in a sturdy hold. Her eyes pierced down the barrel and scanned the area. The lights flipped on as she took a step out of the elevator and each cubicle was bathed in light. Nothing to the left, or to the right. No one was there yet. She rounded each corner, and softly said "clear", to herself with each empty alcove. 

When she had satisfied herself, Emily sheathed her weapon and went to the coffee machine. The machine rumbled loudly as it produced the first cup of coffee for the day and Emily winced. She carefully kept her back to the wall while her hearing was impaired. With her coffee in hand, she settled herself in the corner with the broadest perspective of the room and waited. 

The first early bird arrived at 6:30 along with Hotch. When they began to arrive, Emily removed herself from her seated position in the corner so as to not attract attention but leaned casually against the wall with last weeks case file in hand. 

Hotch spotted her almost immediately and casually took a detour on his way for coffee. 

"What are you doing here?" He asked. Emily shrugged. "Just thought I'd catch up on what you guys have been doing." His sturdy frame paused a meter from her slight one. He shook his head. 

"No, I mean why are you here at all? Have you passed your psych evaluation?" 

"Yeah, I've got the paper right here. I can join the team on cases as long as I continue biweekly therapy for at least 12 weeks." Emily passed him the signed paper. He looked it over and she stifled a yawn. 

"Did you answer truthfully or did you tell her what she wanted to hear?" 

"Just because I told her what she wanted to hear doesn't mean it wasn't truthful." She chided. He read her body language flawlessly. 

"You lied through your teeth, didn't you?" Hotch said as he pocketed the paper. "Maybe a little." she said. She felt him reading her micro expressions. It felt like having someone putting a magnifying glass over your face and studying your large pores and imperfect features. she tapped her foot rapidly and looked away. His gaze almost hurt. He continued to look at her even after she had broken eye contact and she squirmed uncomfortably. 

"Well," he said as he studied her, "if you need to talk, let me know. You can take a break from the cases any time you need." Emily nodded and looked over his shoulder. She edged her way to the left so that she was no longer between him and the wall. The intense feeling of being trapped like an animal fought for her attention. She remembered so vividly the way Alex White seemed to just be an endless wall of barb wire and stone separating herself from freedom. She had never trusted him; he was a stranger; but yet it felt like he had broken some kind of trust she had in people. A hug is confining yet kind. But he beat her. Even that had been before the worse terror of all, when he had raped her. 

"Have the other's arrived?" He asked. "What?" She asked irritably. He tried again to make eye contact with her and she tried to pull away. He managed to catch her eye for just a moment. The way she looked right through him was disconcerting and he began to rethink letting her rejoin the team. 

"Have the other's arrived?" He said again. "Oh, no." She responded. He nodded to her and continued on his way. Emily breathed a sigh of relief. It was exhausting trying to focus on even a simple conversation. To make matters worse, she hadn't slept for more than 2 hours at a time for the past week. 

Rossi appeared in Hotch's office half an hour later. His suit was pressed with pristine perfection. His dark hair was still wet from showering. "Hey, Prentiss is back already?" Hotch was at his desk, his head resting thoughtfully in his chin. "Yeah." He said flatly. "So she's doing ok, that's good." 

"She's not." "Not what?" Rossi asked. "Doing ok." Rossi stepped further towards Hotch's desk. His frown deepened. "But I thought you said she was back. She had to have completed the psyche evaluation." 

Hotch clasped his hands behind his head and leaned back. He stared at the ceiling intently. "She's not ok. But at this point I don't know how not-ok that is." Rossi pressed his lips together and nodded. "The team will look out for her, Hotch." Hotch looked back down at Rossi. "I know." 

The team gathered in the bullpen an hour later. Emily was the first to sit down, choosing her seat carefully. She scanned the area. There were two open doors and several windows over a fire escape. The windows were locked but accessible. From where she sat, she was only a few strides from the door she had come in. Hotch and Rossi waited at the head of the table by the whiteboard. Reid and Morgan bantered as they came in. 

"I swear, if you bend spaghetti, it will always break into 3 pieces." Reid insisted. Morgan shook his head. "No way, that sounds like voodoo stuff to me, Kid." Emily readied herself. Garcia will be coming in late so prepare yourself, she thought. Don't jump. 

"Actually it's not. It's Chemistry. Physics too, you see-" "Alright," Morgan interjected. "I believe you." 

Hotch raised his hand. "Guys, that's enough. We have a case." 

Garcia bustled in with a laptop in hand. "Sorry, sorry, sorry Sir! I'm here." Emily breathed. There, that wasn't so hard. Now there should be no surprises. And there weren't any. Hotch presented the case with the help of JJ and announced, "Wheels up in 30." It was happening. They were about to leave on a case and everything would go back to normal. Just not necessarily for Emily.

**A/N:** If readers are interested, I would like to continue this story. I hope to go at a paced speed with developing the story and Emily's mental state. Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Once on the jet, the team settled down. Emily immediately went to the bathroom and coffee area and cleared it. Now she was sure that no one was on the plane who wasn't suppose to be. The entire time they were on the ground, Emily kept her eyes on the door. As long as no one else boarded the plane, then she could relax for the rest of the flight. 

When the door finally raised slowly up, Emily turned away and leaned back on the couch. The case on hand was a kidnapping. A child of six years old had been taken from the playground at school. He should have felt safe there. He was there everyday and never had real harm come to him. He played with his friends and learned his numbers and letters. Emily shuddered. 

_Emily closed the front door behind her and tossed her jacket aside. She went to the bathroom to clean Sergio's litter box which would be full after a long day away. Sergio trotted in after her and looked up at her with large brown eyes. "What's up, buddy?" She asked, stroking his bunny-soft fur. He mewed at her and she smiled. "Don't worry buddy, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere until tomorrow morning. We have all night."_

_Emily looked up at the feeling of a cool breeze on her neck. The window was open. She stood up and fingered the screen. It was dislodged. She felt another breeze but this time it was warm and was coming from behind her. She couldn't get her hand to her gun before there was suddenly a huge amount of pain in her head and she felt herself falling…_

"Prentiss?" Emily stared blindly ahead. "Prentiss!" She startled sharply and looked up. Morgan was calling her from the middle of the plane. "You OK?" The others tried to pretend they weren't paying attention but she felt their ears focusing in on her. "Yeah, tired." She said, which was true. "What's up?" She asked. Morgan blinked at her. "We're going to discuss the case now." Emily's cheeks burned. "Right, sorry." Emily sheepishly gathered her thoughts and went to join the others. 

Hours after the jet landed, they finally got to go to the hotel. JJ was with the family of the boy in case they were called with a ransom demand. At the station there had been so many reps from different departments and people from the media that she thought she'd go certifiably insane. Hotch had kept an annoyingly close eye on her. It was enough to have to deal with so many possible Alex White's, never mind having to focus on acting as natural as possible. 

The team percolated down the hall and into their shared rooms; Hotch and Rossi, Reid and Morgan, and herself with JJ who was absent. Emily waited until each door had closed before going to hers. She pulled her gun from her belt and held it firmly in one hand as she got out her room key with the other. She carefully turned the key and swung the door open silently. She poised her gun ahead of her routinely and scanned what was immediately visible of the room before stepping in. 

Reid stepped out of his room, ice bucket in hand, just as Emily edged into the room. She hadn't noticed him. Reid frowned to see her gun out. He placed the ice bucket on the ground and tiptoed toward her open door. He held his hand over his own gun. He wondered what it was Prentiss had seen and feared there was danger. 

He stood with his back against the wall and peered around the door frame. He hadn't heard any shots or even any sound at all to indicate danger. Prentiss was no where to be seen. Reid walked stealthily to the bed and looked toward the bathroom. "Prentiss?" He called softly. 

"Don't move!" She shouted, and emerged from behind the bathroom door. Her gun was pointed straight at him and Reid froze instinctively. "Whoa, it's me! Geez." He said, holding his hands in the air. Emily's eyes looked over him and drifted until they focused. "Oh." She said. She offered no other explanation and brushed past him out of the bathroom. 

Emily went straight to the windows and tried to open each of them as though checking if they were locked. When she was satisfied that everything was safe, she went back to the front door and closed it. She twisted the lock. Reid stood at the bed, bewildered the whole time. "What's going on?" He said, his brown eyes laced with concern. 

Emily shoved her hands in her pockets and bowed her head. She shrugged. "I thought I heard something." Reid studied her with the same disconcerting manner that Hotch had that morning. "You're a crappy liar." He decided. Emily looked up at him and cracked a smile. Her eyes were glassy as though feverish. "Thanks." She said. 

"Your welcome." Reid said. He settled himself on the edge of her bed. 

"What are you doing?" She asked. 

"Sitting here." He replied innocently. 

"Why?" She insisted. 

"Because. I think you're afraid that the boogey man is going to come get you. Obviously you can't be afraid Alex White will because he's in jail. Don't worry though, if the boogey man does come to get you, I'll protect you." Emily marched purposefully to the head of the bed and grabbed a nice firm pillow. She whopped him with it over the head and plopped down next to him. 

"How am I supposed to protect you if you knock me unconscious with pillows?" He asked seriously. 

"Shut up." She said. He flopped back on the bed and paid her no mind. It occurred to her that she hadn't been on a bed in the middle of the room like this since the attack. Maybe the fact that it wasn't hers made the difference. She had stripped her bed where she'd been raped and threw all her bedding in the dumpster. She'd gotten all new sheets and comforters and pillows so it didn't feel like her bed anymore but she couldn't erase the memory. 

She looked at Reid and wondered if he guessed what she was thinking about. She laid down next to him, both of their lower legs hanging over the edge of the bed. She hadn't felt comfortable like that in a long time. It was different but it was good. She was so tired. She wanted to sleep so badly but the fear of nightmares had kept her up. Now, she allowed herself to close her eyes knowing that Reid was right next to her ready to protect her from the boogey man. 

**A/N:** I hope you liked this new chapter! Let me know what you think.


	3. Chapter 3

Emily's eyes flickered open and for a moment she thought she saw those dark, red-rimmed eyes peering into hers. She peeped but calmed as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. It was probably a dream, she thought. Emily pushed herself upright and realized that she was now in her usual place on the bed. She was lying on top of the bed covers but had a smaller blanket draped over her. 

Her hand went instinctively to her belt to feel for her gun. It wasn't there. She whipped towards the nightstand and sure enough, it was sitting there. She flipped on the light and looked around as the blinding dots faded from her eyes. Reid was on the opposite side of the room on the armchair, sleeping. He stirred as light seemingly flooded the room but didn't waken. The clock blinked 1 am. Wow, she had slept for almost 3 hours. A record. 

She was exhausted but too alert at this point to fall back asleep. Instead, she exited her room quietly, taking care not wake Reid, and padded down the hall. She continued going until the signs led her to the hotel fitness center. The lights had been turned off for the night and only the whirring of the refrigerator drink vendor filled the air. Moonlit shadows created long, human shaped black marks along the floor and equipment. Seeing them out of the corner of her eye made her turn every few steps. 

As Emily crossed the room painstakingly slowly she began to hear the sound of a machine going. Footsteps pounded in rhythm with it like someone was running. Emily approached the sound and saw a silhouette against the wall. She lurked behind the equipment, carefully analyzing who the silhouette belonged to. Morgan. 

Emily softly called out in his direction. "Hey." Morgan looked up but something was wrong. His skin was draped over his bones like he was terribly sad about something. "Morgan?" She asked, drawing closer. "What's wrong?" She said again, her voice rising. He continued to stare at her sadly. 

"I'm so sorry Emily." He stepped off the treadmill and stepped toward her, reaching for her. 

"For what?" She asked. 

"For this." Suddenly he was all over her, punching every part of her body he could reach. "No! Stop!" She screamed. He grabbed her throat as she screamed, forcing her to fall into a choked silence. "Emily! Stop!" Someone shouted. Stop? Her? The feeling of bile suddenly came rising in her throat and she gagged. "No. Can't- breathe-" She uttered with her last breathe. "Emily!" 

Her eyes flew open and discovered she was being rocked back and forth- no, being shaken. "Emily!" The voice demanded. Her throat felt like it was collapsing in on itself. She could hardly breathe, just like the dream. Suddenly she realized that her hands were clenched tightly over her throat. As soon as she made this realization, she released her grip and drew in a gasping breath. The bile burned at the back of her mouth and she painfully swallowed it. She sat up to keep herself from choking more and found that she was indeed in the middle of the bed with a blanket draped over her. Reid must have done it after she had fallen asleep. 

Her eyes drew upward and found Reid there. His large brown eyes were rimmed with dark as they usually were but filled with fear. "Are you alright?" He said shakily. He still looked freaked out that she had been choking herself in her sleep. Emily's breath evened out. "Yeah. Bad dream." 

Suddenly her phone rang. She reached past Reid to the nightstand and stared at the too-bright screen. Hotch. "Hello?" She said groggily into the phone. "Is everything alright over there?" He asked. He sounded more awake than her but then again he had slept the night before. "Yeah, everything's fine." 

"I thought I heard screaming. I wanted to make sure everything was alright." Emily winced. If he had heard her, any others in nearby rooms would be able to as well. She wouldn't be able to look any of the other guests in the eye in the morning. "I know. Don't worry about it." She said. Reid rolled his eyes and Emily stuck her tongue out at him. 

"Maybe we should talk tomorrow and reassess if you are ready to rejoin the team." Hotch said finally. 

"No that's not necessary. See you in the morning." She said bluntly, shutting down the conversation. There was another pause on his end. 

"Alright. Good night." The phone clicked off and she set it down. 

"Shall we get back to sleep? You don't have to stay if you don't want. I'll be fine." Emily said to Reid. 

"I'll stay." He said simply and returned to his chair that was his make-shift bed. He waited until she went back under the covers and turned the light off. Then she heard him nestle back down and very gradually, his breathing slowed. Emily stared into the dark with her eyes wide open. She doubted she would be getting anymore sleep.

**A/N:** Thank you guys for the reviews and the follows! It means a lot that you take the time to do so. I know this chapter is shorter but it turned out to be a good place to end the chapter and it is late! Next time we'll have something interesting brewing:)


	4. Chapter 4

Morning came and the light told Emily it was safe to get out of bed. Each team member got their morning coffee and got dressed before streaming out of their rooms. Reid, Rossi, Hotch, and Emily boarded the elevator and pressed the ground-floor button. Morgan tore around the corner to join them and Rossi held the door to keep it from closing. 

Without thinking and without really knowing why, Emily slipped out of the elevator just before it closed. "I'm going to take the stairs." She announced and turned on her heel and hurried away. The guys were startled but the doors were already closing so they let her go. 

As Emily trotted down the stairs, tall cement walls on each side, she thought hard. She realized that she left when Morgan came into the elevator. She was still thinking of the dream. Knowing they wouldn't accept that accuse even if she told them, she formulated a better one. "I needed the exercise to wake up." She rehearsed. 

Down on the first floor at the breakfast court, she met back up with them. "What was that?" Hotch asked as she neared the table. "I needed the exercise to wake up." She repeated. It wasn't hard to act tired. Bags hung from her eyes and her head felt like it was spinning. She had to continuously remind herself not to rest her head on her shoulder like a crazy. 

The team had already sat down and Emily noticed that the only available seat was next to Morgan. She vision quickly slipped into the dream and saw him approaching, reaching for her and then strangling her without warning. At this point she had no difficulty believing the world could be an unstable place. 

"Um, Rossi? Mind if we switch?" She asked. His seat was closest to the door anyway. There were viable points of exit from each seat but she just didn't want to be next to Morgan with the dream still fresh in her mind. Rossi gave her a funny look but obliged so as to not appear unreasonable at the simple request. 

"I have a better view of that painting over there." She supplied. "It is by a Russian painter called-" 

"Called Ataman Krasnoschekov. Great artist. Good taste." Reid interrupted. Emily nodded. "Right, what he said." 

JJ called a minute later and was talking to Hotch about the parents. Morgan kept trying to catch her eye but she refused to make eye contact. Vigilance was becoming harder as she fell further into a tired stupor. Food wasn't helping. "Emily!" Hotch said. 

"What?" She snapped. Why did he have to yell? "We've got to get to the station. We're meeting JJ and the local detective." "Fine." She said, raising her hands. "You don't need to yell." She said irritably. Hotch shook his head. "I said your name 5 times. And I haven't forgotten, I need to speak to you later." Emily stood up and sighed. 

JJ filled them in on what had happened overnight once at the station. "There was no ransom demand last night. Money isn't the motivation behind the kidnapping. We have to start from square one." Hotch furrowed his eyebrows. "We'll need someone to go talk to the parents and look over the crime scene one more time. This changes our whole MO. We need to bring them in to identify possible suspects as well." 

"It's been almost 48 hours. Assuming the kid is still alive, we are probably dealing with a sexual predator." Morgan said. 

"Emily, Morgan, I need you to go talk to the family. Find out if anyone they may have met before seemed particularly friendly with the boy." Hotch began. Before he could continue, Emily took a step back. "Maybe I can help here." She said loudly, feigning confidence. Hotch shook his head. "The mother might benefit from having a woman there. We don't want her to feel attacked." 

"I think I could help better here, maybe look into cases similar to this in the past. There could be more kids out there." The local detective raised his eyebrows at Emily's persistence. She noticed but didn't care. "Emily," Hotch said, becoming irritated. "Just go. We need you there." Emily knew she was pushing her limits but she continued. "Can Reid come with me then?" She said, not wanting to say directly that she didn't want Morgan there. 

"What? Do you just not want to have hang out with me?" Morgan asked humorously. Emily didn't look in his direction as he spoke. She looked toward the ground instead and didn't respond. "Emily?" Hotch said, waiting for her to answer. She fell into the dream again, fists everywhere and pain, so much pain. She looked up. "Yeah." She said. 

The team was stunned. This time it was Morgan who would not look at her. "Emily!" Rossi reprimanded. "What the hell?" He sounded angry. At the tone of his voice, Emily backed away further. She shook her head. 

She was so confused. She had dreams all the time. When they involved people she knew, it didn't normally make her believe it was grounded anywhere near truth. She should know the difference between dreams and reality. Everything was blurring together though. Sleep and waking were merging. Sleep was so restless and being awake was exhausting… She knew that the sleep deprivation must be getting to her but that didn't change how she felt. 

Now her team was upset with her. Rossi, Hotch, and JJ probably thought she was a horrible person. Her relationship with Morgan would undoubtedly suffer and even Reid, who had been so understanding, wouldn't be able to understand this. She had to keep her eyes wide to keep the brimming tears from spilling over. She spun away on her heel. JJ tried to grab her arm but she pushed her away. 

She wasn't sure where to go. Anywhere without people sounded good right now. She ran up the stairs, not noticing if anyone was following her, and made her way onto the roof. She whipped her gun out with her finger tight on the trigger as she emerged and did a quick scan. The roof was empty. She shoved the gun back in her belt roughly and circled straight behind a large pile of sand bags. She didn't feel like looking over the edge and seeing the world with all its people going about on their daily business. Why remind herself just how little the rest of the world cared about her plight? Tears spilled silently from her eyes. 

Footsteps echoed from the stairs, coming closer and closer to her position. Her gut told her it was someone on the team but her brain told her to pull out the gun. She adjusted herself to a crouched position and waited until the person rounded the corner. It was Morgan and she had a gun trained at his head. She lowered it as soon as she realized who it was but the damage had been done. 

Morgan tried to breath more normally. What had he done to make her so reluctant to be in his company? What could he possibly have done to be in a situation where his friend had a gun aimed at his face? Something was seriously screwed up. 

"What's going on?" He managed. It was hard to keep his voice steady and not accusing. Of course she was still dealing with the repercussions of the attack. She wasn't feeling right, probably hadn't slept in a week but still, it was hard. "I'm so sorry." She said. She was terrified to have spoken a line from her dream for fear of falling into it again and carrying the rest of it out. She was afraid that she would suddenly, and without warning, loose all physical control but it needed to be said. 

"Please tell me what I did, Emily. I just don't understand." His eyes were full of hurt. Emily put her gun safely back in her belt and stood up. She held back 2 meters from him. She was furious with herself but she still felt as though she couldn't trust him. She had to tell him the truth. He might think she was crazy but she couldn't jeopardize their friendship. 

"The truth is screwed up and stupid but I think I have to tell you." He nodded encouragingly. "Don't worry about it." He said. Emily took a deep breath. "I- I had this dream last night." She blushed and rushed on. "that we were in the hotel in the middle of the night and we were talking, sort of. Then you just attacked me and started choking me-" Emily lost her words. Her shoulders started to tremble like she desperately wanted to cry but Moran suddenly looked so relieved. 

He came toward her. It took every ounce of will power in her body but she didn't back down. He took her by the shoulders and looked at her. "Thank god." He said seriously and for a moment she managed to contain herself. "What?" She managed. He pulled her in and hugged her. "I thought you hated me." He whispered.

**A/N:** I particularly enjoyed writing that chapter. Let me know what you think in the comments! Next time we'll have a bit of a surprise from Emily. Mwahaha


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Sorry for the long wait! This past week being the first week of school made things crazy. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and please let me know what you think! I appreciate all of your comments, likes, and follows. 

* * *

Immediately upon leaving the roof, Emily marched to the car. She didn't want to face the rest of the team and she didn't want Hotch taking her off the case. The case meant distraction and company. Maybe she just blew the second one but she still had the first one going for her and she wasn't about to loose it. Morgan ran after her, trying to make her stop and listen but she didn't. 

"Prentiss, you need to take a break, see somebody." Emily plopped herself in the driver's seat and started the engine. "I am seeing somebody. Now are coming with me or what?" 

"I'll call Hotch." He threatened. Emily cast him a dirty look. "I already texted him and told we worked it out and are on our way to the family's house. Make a decision." He clearly wasn't happy about it but he opened the door. He didn't want her to drive off without him. "Let me drive at least." He said. 

"Fine." Emily slid into the passenger seat and Morgan took the wheel. It was probably for the better. She didn't want to be risking his life after he was so understanding with her. Falling asleep at the wheel would definitely count as much. 

* * *

Immediately upon being invited into the house, Emily searched the house. She pushed past the wife without giving her even the courtesy of a glance. "Excuse me, what are you doing?" She said shrilly. Emily continued into the kitchen, ignoring her. She noticed the curtain fluttering slightly and quickly shut it. She secured the lock and tied the curtains shut. She went through each room like this, the wife and husband hurrying after her. "We thought you were here to talk to us, not invade our privacy!" The wife asserted. 

When Emily still didn't answer her, Morgan stepped in. "She's just looking for possible ways the unsub could have been observing your son." He lied. He actually had no idea what she was doing but resisted questioning her in front of the family. 

Emily swung open the door to the walk in pantry and peered around. A sudden clatter caused her to whip out her gun and hold it ready into one of the dark corners. 

"Oh my," The wife said, sounding panic stricken at the sight of the gun. "What is going on?" Emily flipped on the light and saw a broom laying across the floor where it must have fallen. "I heard something and needed to take a look." She replied nonchalantly. "Yes! You heard something because you knocked it over in the process of searching our pantry! Tell me, do you approve of our breakfast cereal?" 

Emily rolled her eyes. "I don't give a hoot what you eat for breakfast." She said as she pushed past them once more. "So, we have some questions for you." She leaned in mockingly toward the wife. "I hope that's alright." Morgan shook his, looking mystified. 

The four of them settled in the living room, Danny's parents on the love seat with Morgan across from them. Emily leaned against the wall beside the door. The wife took a steady breath and tried to be polite. "Would you like to take a seat?" She asked Emily. "No." Emily said shortly. The room fell into an uncomfortable silence. Morgan caught her eye questioningly but she pulled away. "OK then." Morgan began to break the ice. 

"Ma'am, I know you're upset after the past few days and having not heard anything about Danny but we need to go over anything you may not have mentioned yet." Morgan said. 

Emily yawned and didn't bother to hide it. The husband raised his eyebrows at her but Morgan kept steady eye contact with the wife to keep the focus off Emily. 

"I told you, Danny doesn't talk to strangers." The wife said. Emily rolled her eyes and finally caved and shot her a warning glance. Emily ignored it. "Come on," She said. "And I'm sure you've never lied to your dear mother or-" "Emily," Morgan warned. 

"Come off it." She said. She rubbed her eyes. Her head lulled a bit and the wife looked repulsed. "Is she hung over or something?" She asked. Morgan turned back to the woman. "Please, everyone is tired. We've been working very hard on your case so that we can bring Danny home." He said smoothly. "Now I'm going to ask you again, when you looked out the window to check on Danny, did you see any cars parked on the side of the road that aren't usually there?" "No!" The wife insisted. Emily fisted hers eyes again, shaking her head. She was so frustrated with this woman. When she sidestepped Hotch to come here, she hadn't anticipated dealing with a mother as purely pigheaded as she was. 

"Ma'am, why do you insist that there is no information what-so-ever? Do you think that if there is no evidence as to who took your son, he magically never have been taken? Or maybe you're covering something up. Did your husband do it?" "I beg your pardon!" The woman cried. 

The husband jumped to his feet and towered over her. Emily swayed. If she had been thinking right, it might have occurred to her to be frightened. Morgan marched straight to Emily and took her arm. She jerked at his touch. "Excuse me." Morgan said to the them. He led her away. As soon as they were out of sight of the family, she yanked her arm away and doubled back to go straight out the door. She left the door wide open for Morgan to close. 

"What was that? You can't treat people like that. I don't give a damn for whatever excuse you have because all of us have repeatedly asked if you needed help and you keeping shooting us down!" Emily just shook her head. She kept shaking her head until Morgan grew frustrated. "Fine. Just don't go back in there, alright?" He left her, fuming. Emily didn't even care. She didn't want his company or anyone else's. 

Emily turned her back on the house, looked down and closed her eyes. As soon as she did, she opened them, staring blindly into space. Those red-rimmed eyes appeared at the back of her eyelids and taunted her. _"You think you are so important." A blow to side. "You think you're so powerful, agent. But here we are. You're on the ground," He said as he leaned over her, "and I'm up here. There's not anything you can do about it, Agent Prentiss. And there's nothing you can do about this either." He began to undo his belt and lowered himself closer and closer towards her._

"Agent?" No. Not again. Emily's hand was on her gun in an instant, her training serving her well. She spun around, her head spinning dizzily in the opposite direction. The gun was up before she could think. "Get back!" She screamed blindly in the direction of the voice. Her eyes focused slowly. 

The husband stood before her, looking stunned. He flung his hands up and backed away. "You're crazy." He said. Morgan flew out the door on high alert. The wife came closely behind. Morgan took in the scene and then ran to her. Emily's eyes filled with tears as she began to comprehend what was happening. "I thought it was him." She whimpered. 

Morgan slowed as he neared her and edged forward. He took her gun from her and holstered it in his own belt. "What are you doing?" He said. "What are you doing?" Emily buried her face in her elbow and sat back down on the ground like a child, sobbing. She couldn't believe what she'd almost done. She couldn't think. She couldn't breathe.


	6. Chapter 6

Emily stared at the ceiling. It was incredible how many nuances one could find in white plaster tile when they felt like it. The doctor had told her she had visitors but she refused to take them. She could let the team into a lot of aspects of her life but she didn't want them to see any more of her like this. 

Two days had past since she'd almost shot the father of the missing boy. The boy was found the next day and returned to his mother but Emily hadn't been there to witness it. She had been here, in the hospital, staring into the blurry haze of sleep that so forcefully penetrated her mind. She had been given a lot of drugs. Some were for sleep, others for depression, maybe one for psychosis; she wasn't sure. 

The husband had immediately wanted to press charges. He demanded that "someone in charge" get their butt down there and arrest the crazy woman. Naturally, Hotch was called. As soon as he had been briefed on what had happened, he decided to bring JJ too to talk the man down. JJ had managed to convince him to wait to press charges so that it wouldn't be a distraction from the case since the whole team would have to give statements. Then his son was found and he had a change of heart. 

It was decided that Prentiss would be suspended for two months with mandatory partial hospitalization followed by her usual biweekly therapy. She was in the ER until the previous could be arranged. 

Emily fell into a tumultuous sleep in spite of the sun still being high in the sky. 

"_You never helped me, you know." A voice mused beside Emily. Emily turned away from the grassy view of an expansive lawn and saw a familiar woman beside her._

"_What?" Emily asked. "You didn't even talk to me after I was raped." The woman said. Emily placed the face quickly. It was her friend who had lived in the dorm across the hall from her in college, Jade. Emily frowned._

"_I did though. We went to the movies together a couple times with Carole. You were the one who stopped talking to me." Jade crossed her legs and Emily noticed that they were both sitting in white lawn chairs. "You don't talk at the movies. You watch movies. Didn't it occur to you that I needed someone to talk to and just didn't know how?" There was a bitterness in Jade's voice that put Emily on edge._

"_I didn't know how either though." Emily protested. "You just got so difficult to be around." Carole stared out sadly._

"_There was no wrong way to do it. But you understand that now, don't you?"_

"_How did you know?" Emily asked. She leaned toward Carole, eager to hear more._

"_I'm dead, Emily. You've known that for, geez, almost 10 years?" Emily felt tears well up in her eyes. She brushed them away impatiently._

"_You didn't have to do what you did. You could have gotten help, real help." Emily said. Her voice was beginning to crack._

"_I didn't think anything or anyone could help me. It seemed like everyone around me was just letting me down." Jade said. She still had not met Emily's eyes and Emily was terrified that she never would._

"_You know that's not true. I just didn't understand."_

"_Your team understands, don't they?" Jade said. Emily shrugged an found herself unable to look at Jade for a moment._

"_I guess. Morgan was molested as a child. Reid was held hostage for days by two people at once. Hotch was attacked in his home. But you know all of that stuff, don't you?" Emily said._

"_I do." Jade admitted. "I just wanted to make sure that you did." Emily snorted a laugh despite the situation._

"_Yeah, I do." Emily said. Jade smiled faintly. She turned her head and finally looked Emily in the eye._

"_You'll be alright." She said appraisingly. "You have more than enough support. I think you're ready to go back to the waking world."_

"_Don't leave." Emily pleaded, reaching out with her hand. Jade spoke once more. "I made my own choices and I can be of no further help to you. For what it's worth, I forgive you. And I think I forgive myself too." Jade faded away and the chair was left empty._

As Emily lay sleeping in her hospital bed, a single tear fell from her cheek. 

* * *

Morgan and Reid inched in first. They looked nervous as though they expected Emily to chew them out. JJ and Hotch filed in behind them and Garcia's face via Skype was carried in by Rossi. 

Emily hated to have so many people in her room at once but she didn't protest. 

When the silence in the room continued on for several minutes, Emily began to fear the worse. They were mad at her. She remembered what Morgan had said to her just before she had pulled the gun on the husband. _I don't give a damn for whatever excuse you have because all of us have repeatedly asked if you needed help and you kept shooting us down! _ Did he still feel the same way? Did they all believe that? 

"Surprise!" Garcia called out from the computer screen. A brightly colored bouquets of flowers appeared from behind her back. "I have some lovely flowers for my lovely friend. You're lucky you get the digital version. These things have some serious pollen." She said, rubbing her pink nose. 

Everyone burst out laughing at the same time, the tension in the room broken. Even Hotch managed a good chuckle. Each team member turned toward her and each other and he room was soon filled with a chorus of pleasant chatter that for the first time in a week and a half, Emily was able to fully enjoy. She was still terrified of what lay ahead of her. Therapy was hard, Strauss wouldn't give her any breaks, but at least she could start fresh.

**A/N:** Geez, that sounds horribly like an ending! It wasn't planned that way because I would have warned you. (Yes, I need to work on pacing my stories.) So anyway, I think that I will probably be doing a sequel to this story. Even if I were to continue in this same story, I would be starting with another major event so I might as well make it into a sequel. Please let me know if you interested in this and if you have ideas of what you'd like to see and I'll try to incorporate them:) I don't know exactly when I'll start the sequel, that'll depend on what kind of feedback I get from you guys and how busy my life is, but I'll do my best to get it up soon. You guys are great and make sure to look out for more from Emily!


End file.
